Spoiler warning! Now I'll start actually spoiling stuff! Jadeite [spoiler]The Jadeite arc was fine. Jadeite kinda served as the default template for what the Four Kings of Heaven were, and what the formula of the show would be, and as such, there are no real twists and turns. It's definitely the worst part of the show, but it's not bad in any way. It just serves to set the stage, and that's all it really does. I will say, though, Jadeite had a certain air of intimidation around him that the other Four Kings of Heaven really lacked. Part of this probably just came from the fact that he was the first, and we didn't know much about the Dark Kingdom, but also he was the only one of the Four Kings to threaten all of Tokyo, and the only one who challenged the Sailor Guardians. Everyone else always tried to take out the Sailor Guardians with some sort of trickery. If one thing really holds the Jadeite arc back, though, it's that this is where the majority of the bad writing/translation is. Between Luna straight up telling Usagi to murder her brother, the Sailor Guardians just not giving two hoots about Tuxedo Mask's supposed death, and "that fire was only an illusion!", it definitely feels like... The cheapest part of the show, for lack of a better term? Still good, though. I liked it.[/spoiler] Nephrite [spoiler]As I mentioned before, Nephrite's shift in the way he goes about things compared to Jadeite was a really nice contrast, and I like how he had an undercover identity. I think his method of going around cursing individual people, which caused their emotions to spiral out of control was also my favorite of the various ways the Four Kings went about their plans. Of course, the big thing about Nephrite's story arc was his relationship with Naru. It's easy to look at this, and say that this story arc was bad, because this was a very unhealthy relationship, and it was most definitely was a very unhealthy relationship! Nephrite was a bad influence on Naru. He was very manipulative, and didn't actually care for her int the slightest until right at the very end. And the worst part was, Naru understood this, and was okay with it. But, it's important to note that just because something is in a show, doesn't mean the show approves of it, and even though Nephrite's death was treated as a tragedy, I was never under the impression the show said their relationship was a good thing. Quite the opposite, really, it always felt like the show said it was a bad thing, and Naru being so obsessed with Nephrite was unhealthy. And, I liked this plot thread, firstly because it gave Naru more of a role in the story, which she's sorely lacking later on, and it led to a lot of good character drama, to throwing herself in the way of Sailor Moon's attack, to trying to pull the spikes out of Nephrite after he was impaled. And on Nephrite's side of things, he was a person who never knew love, and was being shown it for the first time, and was trying to make sense of it. Though he was indeed a bad person, we saw that he might not have remained that way if he didn't die. And, as kind of hilarious as the chocolate parfait scene is out of context, in context it was genuinely kinda heartbreaking. If you look at the Nephrite arc as a tragic love story, it might feel kinda weird, because the love story in question was a very unhealthy one, but if you look at it instead as a tragic redemption arc, where a bad person saw a chance to grow into someone better but never got the chance, it's really good. I liked it.[/spoiler] Zoisite [spoiler]The best part of the Zoisite arc was definitely Zoisite himself. Out of the Four Kings of Heaven, Zoisite had the most personality of the bunch. He was impatient, and a little whiny, but still also overconfident with the power to match. He also had a bit of a personal rivalry with Tuxedo Mask which was pretty fun. Episodes in this part of the show often had Tuxedo Mask fighting with Zoisite, while the Sailor Guardians dealt with the monster, which I enjoyed. And, the relationship between Tuxedo Mask and the Sailor Guardians was probably at its most interesting at this point in the story, too. Tuxedo Mask was still ostensibly an ally, but he also made it clear he wanted the Rainbow Crystals, and by extension the Silver Crystal, for himself. He would often still try to keep the Sailor Guardians safe, and they both seemed to agree that the Dark Kingdom was the bigger threat, but while they never actually came to blows, the threat that they might was constantly looming of the Sailor Guardians' heads. One missed opportunity with the Zoisite stuff, I think, though, was leaning in more on the fact that Zoisite killed Nephrite, who, of course, Naru was in love with. The show didn't completely ignore this, to be clear, but it only really played with it for one scene. There was some juicy character drama I think they missed out on by not having a bit more with it.[/spoiler] Kunzite [spoiler]Personality wise, Kunzite was a bit too similar to Nephrite, but he kinda had a personal vendetta against the Sailor Guardians, and it was a neat change of pace to see how his plans always revolved around luring her out of hiding. This is probably the biggest moment where I feel it seems like Queen Beryl seemed a little dumb, though, because Kunzite's whole deal was trying to figure out Sailor Moon's real identity, which Jadeite did ages ago. If Beryl wasn't too busy killing all her minions, they would've had this information already. During this arc of the story, Tuxedo Mask is also brainwashed as Beryl's servant, and it was kind of fun to see how he and Kunzite had a rivalry with each other. I do feel like they dropped the ball a little bit, though, because Tuxedo Mask was still kind of up to all his old tricks. He'd still save the Sailor Guardians when needed, only now he'll ask for the Silver Crystal after and then do nothing when they say no. It was kind of weird. I think Kunzite was the only one of the Four Kings of Heaven that the Sailor Guardians killed directly, which was kind of fun. While I have my complaints with how Queen Beryl kills the others (except Nephrite, he was a traitor, so it makes sense), it did kind of help escalate this moment when the Sailor Guardians finally deal the finishing blow themselves.[/spoiler] The ending [spoiler]The ending completely took me by surprise, and it was phenomenal. Even though I was positive they were going to pull some sort of revival trick, them going and killing off all the Sailor Guardians one by one came totally out of left field, and caught me totally off guard. But hot dawg if that isn't the way to ramp up the tensions as you invade the villain's hideout! Usagi never wanted to be a superhero, and this is something we see several times throughout the show. She'll always step up to the plate when needed, but she never wanted this life, and if she could throw in the towel, she would. The best scenes in the show, I think, are the ones that explore this side of her character. Even though their personalities are totally opposite, in a weird way Usagi actually reminds me a lot of Batman. They're both superheroes because they have to be, not because they want to be, and their greatest wish is a world where they're not needed. The big difference between them, however, is that Usagi never really came face to face with death, not with anyone she really cared about anyway. And sometimes, it almost feels like she doesn't really understand the weight of burden she carries. If she fails, people will die. And then, as they go to to assail the Dark Kingdom's lair, someone finally does. And Usagi just completely falls apart as her friends and allies fall around her one after another. Everyone came into this fight ready and willing to do whatever it takes to save the world, even if it meant sacrificing themselves... Except for Usagi. In a way, she's always just been playing superhero, and soon enough she's the only one left. Watching the Sailor Guardians die, seeing the normally bright and cheery Usagi so broken, it was such a sudden tone shift, and I love it. Oh, and of course, the tragedy doesn't end there, because she's forced to fight the brainwashed Tuxedo Mask who dies in her arms right as he turns back to normal. Man, they just really did everything they could to break her down, didn't they? But of course, they end up pulling a resurrection stunt, but honestly, it's one of the better ones I've seen. The Silver Crystal was already established to have the ability to reincarnate people, and when everyone's reincarnated, they didn't retain their memories. In a way, they [i]DID[/i] still die. That version of them is gone. Y'know, probably, I haven't watched Sailor Moon R yet. I was already really enjoying the show, but the ending was on a whole other level of great![/spoiler] But with that, it looks like my work here is done! Farewell! *Aifos jumps out a window, his cape fluttering in the wind*